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Digging For Clues
Digging For Clues is a title in the Ghostwriter book series, featuring Gaby and Tina. (Other team members Jamal, Lenni, Alex and Rob all appear but only in minor supporting roles.) Synopsis Gaby and Tina help discover that a construction site in Brooklyn has artifacts valuable enough to stop the building of a new supermarket. Summary Gaby and Tina are waiting on the steps of Hurston Middle School for Alex. They have a flyer for a contest for showing how history is important in New York, and wonder what to do for it. Then, Jasmine comes and sees their flyer. She tells them that she wants to do an entry in the contest about construction site near her home, where some artifacts had been discovered, but has no one to do it with. The two younger girls agree to work with Jasmine for the contest. In the lobby of Jasmine’s apartment building, they find a large crowd listening to a woman named Frieda. She tells them that she has always loved history, and shows them an artifact from the 1600s that had been found in the construction site nearby. Frieda believes that the history of the site could be discovered. However, the government agency that she and her partner, Ted, had called, named the Office of Historic Preservation, had stated that they would only stop the construction if the site was found to be valuable to do so. She says that they need to find evidence quick, since the construction was due to start again on Monday. Frieda asks for volunteers to help dig. Gaby, Tina and Jasmine ask if they can provide video coverage, and Frieda happily agrees. The three girls come to the construction site. Under a wooden board, they discover a piece of African jewelry. However, a man named Timothy Barrett comes, and angrily tells them that they are trespassing, and that they must leave. After they tell him about their plan to create a video of the history in the construction site, he irritably states that there is not any history to be found there, and that the site is his construction site. A man from the Office of Historic Preservation then comes, named Mr. Cruz. Mr. Barrett does not believe that anyone will find anything valuable enough in the site in time. The girls and Mr. Cruz talk for a bit, including telling him about their video project, before the man leaves. They then hear Mr. Barrett shouting into a phone, stating that he does not want anyone to find anything valuable in the site, since he wants a bonus that will come if the construction is done on time and within the budget. The rude man then discovers them outside. Thinking quickly, Gaby and Tina pretend that they had wanted to interview him about history, and leave after he declines. Tina goes to her house, and is shocked to find her brother, Tuan arguing with her father, stating that he wants to live away from home. Her father is insistent that he still live with them. After supper, Tina writes her disheartened feelings in her diary. Ghostwriter then switches the words around to be from someone else that is feeling distressed. Tina asks Ghostwriter if there is something else that the person wrote, and the ghost brings back the name Maartje Salee, with her age, eleven years old. Tina resolves to help Maartje. Later, Tina goes to Gaby’s house and discovers that her friend has called a rally about Maartje. However, Alex, Jamal, Lenni and Rob soon have to leave to attend a meeting at their school. After they leave, Ghostwriter sends Gaby and Tina something else that Maartje had written, including that she lost a bronze pendant that her father had given her, but does not have time to look for it since the Red Coats were taking over the area. They go to the library to see what they can find about the Bight of Benin, which was where Maartje’s father had gotten the pendant. They discover that Maartje’s father had come from Africa. The two girls go to Tina’s house to pick up the video camera, where they see her father angrily stating to Tuan, as well as a friend of his, that his son is not leaving the home. They soon go to the construction site with the camera. There, they find that where workers have found several artifacts, and also learn that Brooklyn was first settled by the Dutch. Tina and Gaby realize that the piece of jewelry that they had found is possibly Maartje’s. Gaby then calls a rally at her house. Ghostwriter sends the team first one entry, then another from Maartje’s diary; a mysterious poem; as well as a record of births, including for Maartje. They learn that Maartje is half Dutch and half African American. They also realize that the poem has instructions to a treasure, and that Maartje was born in 1653. Ghostwriter gives them the clue C-7 near her diary. The team goes to the construction site. In the C-7 section, they and Frieda find the diary, list of births, as well as the poem. Using Tina for following the instructions within the poem since she is the same age that Maartje was then, they find the valuable African brass figures. They also find an old Bible with evidence that a free African American family had lived there, and that her family was one of the first African American settlements in Brooklyn. After a commotion where a bulldozer nearly runs over Alex, they discover that the most valuable artifacts are missing. Gaby and Tina suspect Mr. Barrett is behind the disappearances. Gaby goes inside Mr. Barrett’s trailer and finds the missing artifacts, but is stuck inside when the man comes into the home. Tina catches Mr. Barrett in his words, asking how he knew that the artifacts were on a table. Mr. Barrett denies the truth, but Gaby then comes outside with items. Afterward, Tina goes home and surprisingly finds that her father and Tuan have come to an agreement. Her father will let more of American ways be in the house, and her mother tells Tuan to understand that Vietnam is still important to his father, and to not make him be too American. The team attends a celebration at the Youth Center, where Gaby, Tina and Jasmine are congratulated for winning first place in the history contest. All of the artifacts from the construction will be put in museums, including the African American items in their own display. Mr. Barrett has also been arrested. Notes *Momo and Victor Torres both have a cameo in the part where Jamal receives a rally call. *It is mentioned that Tina attends Hurston, so the four older members of the team, including Rob, are all in eighth grade. Gallery Note: Although Rob is a character in the book, he is not in any of the interior illustrations. Digging_For_Clues-_Gaby,_Tina_and Jasmine_near_Hurston.png|Gaby and Tina with Jasmine near Hurston Digging_For_Clues-_Gaby,_Tina_and Jasmine_Find_a_Pendant.png|Finding the pendant in the construction site Digging_For_Clues-_Listening_to_Mr._Barrett.png| Listening to Mr. Barrett Digging_For_Clues-_Father_and_Son_Argument.png|Tuan and Mr. Nguyen have an argument Digging_For_Clues-_Rally_at_the_Fernandez_house.png| Rally at the Fernandez house Digging_For_Clues-_Looking_for_the_Treasure.png| Looking for the treasure Digging_For_Clues-_Alex_and_the_Bulldozer.png|Alex nearly gets run over by a bulldozer Digging For Clues- Gaby Has the Items.png|Gaby comes out of Mr. Barrett's trailer with the valuable items Digging_For_Clues-_At_the_Celebration_Party.png|At the celebration party for the winning entry in the contest Category:Books